Bob Woodruff put in an appearance Tuesday in ABC’s “World News Tonight” newsroom for the first time since January, when he was severely injured in a roadside bomb attack while covering the war in Iraq.

“World News Tonight” Executive Producer Jon Banner posted an account of the visit on the “worldnewser” blog page on ABCnews.com.

“President Bush’s visit to Iraq wasn’t the only surprise around here today,” Mr. Banner wrote. “Bob stopped by the newsroom this afternoon, his first time back in nearly four and a half months. It’s the first time many here had seen him, and he was greeted by a spontaneous round of applause. You could literally see the emotion in each hug. There was barely a dry eye. … Within a matter of minutes, a crowd of nearly 100 gathered to see him — producers, correspondents, camera operators, editors, executives.”

Charles Gibson, who became the solo anchor of “WNT” two weeks ago, plans to note Mr. Woodruff’s visit during the Tuesday newscast.

Mr. Woodruff’s injury, which took place less than a month after he and Elizabeth Vargas took over as co-anchors of “World News Tonight,” threw ABC’s evening newscast plan into disarray. Ms. Vargas held the desk alone after Mr. Woodruff was hurt, then announced she was going on extended maternity leave.

That created another opening in the anchor chair, which Mr. Gibson filled.

Mr. Woodruff’s return to the newsroom helped morale, Mr. Banner said in his blog.

“Suffice to say, there are a lot of happy faces around the newsroom today,” Mr. Banner said. “We will post photos and videos soon.”